Air conditioning apparatus



Sept. 14, 1943.

Filed March 18, 1941 J. L. DITZLER ETAL AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 -1&5

wnmasszs;

FIG. 2.

INVENTOR Jol-m L- D/TZLER '5 RICHARD E. HOLMES ATTORN P 1943- .J. DITZLER ETAL AIIIR CONDITIONING APPARAm Filed March 18, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 CONDENSER E VA P024 70:?

' INVENTOR JOHN L- D/TZL R FICHAED E. HOLMES ATTORNIK Patented Sept. 14, 1943 UNITED STATES! PATENT OFFICE AIR. CONDITIONING APPARATUS John L. Ditzler and Richard E. Holmes, Springfield, Mass., assignors to Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company, East Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application March 18, 1941, Serial No. 384,000

3 Claims.

Our invention relates to air conditioning apparatus, more particularly to a self-contained unit air cooler, such as one that may be mounted in a window of a room to be cooled.

An object of the invention is to provide improved apparatus of the character set forth.

A more particular object is to provide a unit air cooler having an improved arrangement of parts therein.

A further object is to provide a unit air cooler having an improved arrangement for exhaust of air from the room.

A further object is to provide an improved arrangement of discharging air from the unit air cooler so as to reduce noise.

These and other objects are effected by our invention as will be apparent from the following description and claims taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this application, in which:

Fig, 1 is a perspective view of our self-contained unit air cooler mounted in a window;

Fig. 2 is an end view of the unit air cooler mounted in the window, some of the parts being shown in section;

Fig. 3 is a plan view showing the internal parts of the air cooler;

Fig. 4 is a front elevation thereof; and

Fig. 5 is a detail section taken on the line VV of Fig. 3.

The present invention is a modification of the unit air cooler disclosed and claimed in the application of R. D. Heitchue and C. S. Cody, Serial No. 317,094.

Refen'ing to the drawings in detail, our invention comprises a unit air cooler adapted to be mounted, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, in a window of the room to be cooled. It extends horizontally, the front portion projecting intothe room and the rear portion projecting exteriorly of the room.

The air cooler includes a refrigerating system of the compression type, the parts of which are mounted on a combined base and drain pan II and which form therewith a removable refrigerating unit. The refrigerating unit, is

. adapted to be slid horizontally into a mounting structure l2 which is fastened in the window and which forms a housing for the air cooler, which housing is open at the front and the back. A wooden cabinet, 6, having an inlet opening I in the front and'a discharge opening 8 in the top,

the mounting structure I2.

The refrigerating system includes an evaporator I8, which may comprise a conventional cross-fin coil. The evaporator is disposed in the upper right-hand portion of the cooling compartment l5, as shown in Figs. 2,3 and 4. The evaporator may be mounted in any suitable manner, for example, it may be provided with end brackets I!) attached to the partition [4, The evaporator is enclosed in a wall structure which includes a front wall 2| and end walls 22, the partition l4 constituting a rear wall. This wall structure provides a vertical passage through a which air flows upwardly in contact with the surfaces of the evaporator. As will be noted from Fig. 2, the passage extends below the evaporator to form an inlet portion.

The top wall of the mounting structure 12 isprovided with a discharge opening 23 disposed directly above and centrally of the evaporator air passage, but of .less width, as is shown in Fig. 2. The. discharge fopeningt in the wooden cabinet 6 is disposed directly above and centrally of the discharge opening 23, and is of less width than the opening 23. The openings 23 and 8 are preferably of successively, decreasedfllen'gth. A suitable grill 25 maybe positioned in theopen- I ing 8.

The refrigerating system further includes a motor-compressor unit 26, which is preferably of the enclosed type, comprising a compressor, a motor for driving the'compres'sor, and a fluidtight casing enclosing both the compressor and encloses the portion of the air cooler projecting,

into the room. The base member II is formed the motor. It is disposed in the apparatus compartment I6 and mounted on the base member ll in any suitable manner. A condenser. 21, preferably of a conventional cross-fin, type, is disposed in the apparatus compartment along the. back, and is also mounted on the base member VII in any suitable manner.

The refrigerating system further includes parts .forconnecting the evaporator, the motor-compressor unitandthecondenser in a complete refrigerant circuit through which the refrig-, erant is circulated Such parts include a capillary tube 28 for conveying condensed refrigerant from the condenser to the evaporator and for reducing the pressure thereof, a suction conduit 29 for conveying the vaporized refrigerant from the evaporator to the motor-compressor unit, a separating chamber or reservoir 30 interposed in the suction line to retain any liquid refrigerant leaving the evaporator, thereby preventing its admission to the inlet compressor unit, and a discharge conduit 3| for conveying the compressed refrigerant from the motor-compressor unit to the condenser. Preferably, the capillary tube and the suction conduit are soldered to each other, thereby providing a heat exchanger for transferring heat from the refrigerant in the capillary tube to the refrigerant vapor in the suction conduit.

Centrifugal fans 33 and 34 are provided for effecting flow of air through the evaporator and the condenser, respectively. They are overhung on the shaft of an electric motor 35 disposed in the apparatus compartment on the left-hand side of the unit, as shown in Fig. 3, with the shaft extending horizontally from front to back and with the front end of the shaft projecting through the partition l4 into the cooling compartment IS. The casing 34 of the evaporator fan 33 is arranged with its outlet disposed on the lower side, as shown in Fig. 4, and connected to the inlet portion of the evaporator air passage.

A partition 36 is provided in the apparatus compartment I6 to separate the portions of the compartment which are on the suction and the discharge side, respectively, of the condenser fan 34. The partition 36 is formed with a suitable opening to which the outlet of the fan 3| is conunit air cooler, the partition I4 is provided with an opening M which is controlled by a damper 42, which is actuated in any suitable manner. As shown in Fig. 3, the partition 36 is extended to the right of the opening 4| so that the latter communicates with the compartment IS on the suction side of the fan 34.

Operation The refrigerating system operates in the usual manner of such apparatus. Refrigerant vapor is compressed by the motor-compressor unit 26, and circulated through the refrigerant circuit. It is condensed in the condenser 21, its pressure is reduced by the capillary tube 28 and it is vaporized in the evaporator l3, thereby extracting heat from the air circulated over the outer surfaces of the evaporator by the fan 33.

The motor 35 is energized to drive the fans 33 and 34. The fan 33 is effective to cause room air to enter through the inlet I in the wooden cabinet and to flow to the inlet of the fan 33. From the latter fan, the air is discharged horizontally from the lower portion of the fan 33 into the lower or inlet portion of the evaporator air passage. It then flows upwardly through the latter'in contact with the outer surfaces of the evaporator. It then flows through the dischargeopenings 23 and 3 upwardly from the unit air cooler. As the air flows successively through the openings 23 and 8, which are of successively less width and successively less flow area, the velocity of the air is successively increased. It has been found that this arrangement materially reduces the noise produced by the air cooler.

To provide for exhaust of air from the room, the damper 42 is moved to open position. Room air is then exhausted as follows: The air enters through the inlet 1 in the wooden cabinet and flows through the fan 33 to the inlet portion of the evaporator air passage. It, then flows'through the opening 4| to the suction side of the fan 33, and from the latter it is discharged to the righthand portion of the apparatus compartment l6 and the right-hand portion of the condenser 21. It will be apparent, therefore, that the air which is exhausted flows through the two fans in series. that the air is removed from the cooling compartment before it passes over at least a portion of the condenser to help cool the same. This is advantageous sincethe room air is at a lower temperature than outside air.

While we have shown our invention in but one form, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit thereof, and we desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereupon as are specifically set forth in the appended I dividing the same into a cooling compartment and an apparatus compartment, a compressor, a condenser and a fan in said apparatus compartment, said fan effecting flow of air from outdoors over the condenser and back to outdoors, a motor disposed in the apparatus compartment for driving said fan and having its shaft projecting through said partition into said cooling compartment, a centrifugal fan disposed in said cooling compartment and having its rotor overhung on said projecting portion of said shaft, an evaporator disposed in said cooling compartment laterally of said shaft, the cooling compartment having an inlet communicating with the inlet of the cen-, trifuga-l fan and having an outlet communicating with said evaporator, wallmeans disposed about said evaporator to form a passage through which air flows vertically into contact with said evaporator to said outlet, said passage having an inlet portion directly below the evaporator, said centrifugal fan being arranged and having its outlet connected to said inlet portion in such manner that air is discharged from the lower portion of the fan horizontally directly into said inlet portion.

2. In a unit room cooler, the combination of an evaporator, means providing a passage for flow of airvertically through said passage in contact with said evaporator, a flat horizontal inner wall disposed across the top of said passage and having an opening which is formed entirely within saidinner wall and which is of materially less area v said outlet, the inlet of the fan being in communication with the inlet of the cooling compartment, a compressor and a condenser disposed in said apparatus compartment and arranged in refrigerant-flow relation to said evaporator and a. fan in said apparatus compartment for eflecting flow of air from said inlet over said condenser and through said outlet.

JOHN L. DITZLER.

RICHARD E. HOLMES. 

